Question

Why was General Douglas MacArthur removed from command in 1951 by President Truman? A) Truman wanted a commander with more wartime experience. B) MacArthur wanted to become more aggressive and invade China. C) Truman wanted to invade the Soviet Union but MacArthur did not. D) MacArthur wanted to surrender and Truman wanted to keep fighting.

Answer 1

The answer is B MacArthur wanted to become more aggressive and invade China. After China intervened in the Korean war when it was close to being finished MacArthur wanted to punish China by bombing and invasion to beat China in a war. Trumans policy was to just hold onto Korea and not engage Cina on land. At the time the US was worried about an invasion of Europe by the USSR and felt a war with China in asia was the wrong war at the wrong time.

Answer 2

When China entered the war in support of North Korea, MacArthur wanted to become more aggressive and invade China. Truman, however, wanted to limit US involvement and did not want to start a war in China. Eventually this disagreement led Truman to relieve MacArthur of his command.